ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2014
Optogenetic stimulation of locus ceruleus neurons augments inhibitory transmission to parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons via activation of brainstem α1 and β1 receptors.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cardiac autonomic activity during sleep deprivation with and without caffeine administration.Physiology & behavior · 2019Trial
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- Arousal shapes motivation: an integrative framework for understanding motivational deficits.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
- Metabolism-Mediated Regulation of Brain-Heart Interactions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Linking reaction time variability to physiological markers of arousal across timescales.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Locus coeruleus degeneration is associated with orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2026Article
- Cholinergic suppression of heart rate acceleration during intrinsic optogenetic activation of sympathetic cardiac neurons in perfused hearts.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025Article
- Stress reactivity is modulated by cannabinoid type-1 receptors in norepinephrine and epinephrine neurons in a context-dependent manner.Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Feedback Enhances Training and Elicits Biometric Responses in Novel Flexible Nasolaryngoscopy Model.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- Cardiac vagal motor neurons.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Regulation of Cardiac Function by the Autonomic Nervous System.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Review
- Molecular and cellular neurocardiology in heart disease.The Journal of physiology · 2025Review
- The Proximity Prediction Hypothesis: How predictive coding of CT-touch explains Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and its therapeutic applications.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2025Article
- Advancing organ-on-chip systems: the role of microfluidics in neuro-cardiac research.Current research in pharmacology and drug discovery · 2025Review
- Diversity of ancestral brainstem noradrenergic neurons across species and multiple biological factors.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Cardiac-Sympathetic Contractility and Neural Alpha-Band Power: Cross-Modal Collaboration during Approach-Avoidance Conflict.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Site-Specific knockdown of microglia in the locus coeruleus regulates hypervigilant responses to social stress in female rats.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Effects of social isolation on 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, affective state, cognition, and neurotransmitter concentrations in the ventral tegmental and locus coeruleus of adult rats.Behavioural brain research · 2023Article
- Arousal dysregulation and executive dysfunction in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Locus ceruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons are critical in generating alertness. In addition to inducing cortical arousal, the LC also orchestrates changes in accompanying autonomic system function that compliments increased attention, such as during stress, excitation, and/or exposure to averse or novel stimuli. Although the association between arousal and increased heart rate is well accepted, the neurobiological link between the LC and parasympathetic neurons that control heart rate has not been identified. In this study, we test directly whether activation of noradrenergic neurons in the LC influences brainstem parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons (CVNs). CVNs were identified in transgenic mice that express channel-rhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in LC tyrosine hydroxylase neurons. Photoactivation evoked a rapid depolarization, increased firing, and excitatory inward currents in ChR2-expressing neurons in the LC. Photostimulation of LC neurons did not alter excitatory currents, but increased inhibitory neurotransmission to CVNs. Optogenetic activation of LC neurons increased the frequency of isolated glycinergic IPSCs by 27 ± 8% (p = 0.003, n = 26) and augmented GABAergic IPSCs in CVNs by 21 ± 5% (p = 0.001, n = 26). Inhibiting α1, but not α2, receptors blocked the evoked responses. Inhibiting β1 receptors prevented the increase in glycinergic, but not GABAergic, IPSCs in CVNs. This study demonstrates LC noradrenergic neurons inhibit the brainstem CVNs that generate parasympathetic activity to the heart. This inhibition of CVNs would increase heart rate and risks associated with tachycardia. The receptors activated within this pathway, α1 and/or β1 receptors, are targets for clinically prescribed antagonists that promote slower, cardioprotective heart rates during heightened vigilant states.
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